FILE – In this Aug. 1, 2018 file photo, Rudy Giuliani, an attorney for President Donald Trump, addresses a gathering during a campaign event fin Portsmouth, N.H. Giuliani says he’s never said there was no collusion between Russia and members of the Trump campaign. Giuliani’s comments Wednesday night on CNN directly contradict the position of his own client, who has repeatedly insisted that there was no collusion during his successful 2016 presidential campaign. Giuliani himself has described the idea of Russian collusion as “total fake news.” (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, File )

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani now says he “never said there was no collusion” between Russia and members of Trump’s 2016 White House campaign, contradicting public positions that he and his client have taken.

Giuliani, who previously called the idea of Russian collusion “total fake news,” appears to have left open the possibility of improper contacts, in light of court filings in the past year that have detailed ties between Trump aides and Russia.

After his comments in a CNN interview Wednesday night, the former New York City mayor tried to clarify what he meant.

“I represent only President Trump not the Trump campaign. There was no collusion by President Trump in any way, shape or form. Likewise, I have no knowledge of any collusion by any of the thousands of people who worked on the campaign,” Giuliani said Thursday.

It was not clear whether Giuliani, in the television interview, was reflecting a new position or talking point from the Trump legal team or was making a strategic attempt to get ahead of potentially damaging findings from special counsel Robert Mueller.

Mueller has been investigating potential coordination between Russia and the president’s campaign. Trump has repeatedly insisted there was no collusion during his successful White House run.

“I never said there was no collusion between the campaign or between people in the campaign,” Giuliani told CNN.

Either way, the comment reflected a stark turnabout from longstanding denials by the White House and Trump advisers of improper collusion. In November 2016, for instance, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said, “There was no communication between the campaign and any foreign entity during the campaign.”

Giuliani said that even if some on the campaign did something wrong, the president was not part of any collusion.

“There is not a single bit of evidence the president of the United States committed the only crime you could commit here, conspired with the Russians to hack the DNC,” Giuliani said, referring to the Democratic National Committee.

The comments on collusion came after Giuliani was reminded of prosecutors’ allegations that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort had lied about sharing campaign polling data with an associate U.S. authorities have tied to Russian intelligence.

So far, Mueller has charged 33 people, including five Trump associates and 32 Russians accused of interfering in the election either through hacking or through a hidden social media campaign aimed at swaying American public opinion.

Giuliani also said the Trump legal team had told Mueller that the president would not answer any additional questions from prosecutors. Trump has so far answered only a limited number of questions in writing. Trump’s lawyers have balked at the idea of a face-to-face interview with Mueller’s office or having Trump questioned about potential obstruction of justice or other actions he took as president.

William Barr, Trump’s nominee for attorney general, told the Senate Judiciary Committee this week that he wouldn’t interfere with a Mueller request to subpoena the president to compel his testimony “if there was a factual basis for doing it.”

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.